Little Slugger
by ILovetheTalkingClock
Summary: Baseball, feeling rather glum, finds a way to cope. What will happen when one of his greatest friends finds out? (INANIMATE INSANITY FANFIC. CONTAINS MENTAL AGE REGRESSION AND PLATONIC BICKEL. REUPLOADED DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. ONESHOT.)


Baseball stared at the night sky out the hotel room window. While he was out of the show and with Nickel again, he still felt rather down, mostly because he was still overcome with shock that Suitcase would just break the alliance apart like that. Yeah, Nickel was a jerk, but maybe Suitcase could just confront Nickel about it? No, wait, she did something like that! He didn't really listen... Still... Baseball and Nickel were friends, no matter how mean Nickel was. And while he hated to admit it, Baseball was also a bit clingy for Nickel internally, and he knew that was kinda taking over when Suitcase voted him off, much to his own dismay. Baseball sighed, he really didn't know what to do...

"Baseball, it's getting late."

Nickel came into the room. Baseball turned and smiled a little, letting out another sigh.

"I know."

The large object hopped onto the bed, with the coin following suit. Nickel closed his eyes, drifting off into slumber. Baseball's eyes, meanwhile, stayed open. He'd been having trouble sleeping lately due to his current state. Not only that, but he also... wanted to go back to simpler times. Much simpler times. Baseball looked at his foot. He looked at Nickel, making sure he was sleeping, then looked back at his foot again. He really needed some form of comfort at the moment, and didn't want to disrupt Nickel's sleep. Baseball sighed once more and put the foot in his mouth, sucking on it. Dumb as it looked, he liked the motion. It was pretty soothing. As he suckled, he slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep, foot still in his mouth.

As Nickel woke, he looked to his right and noticed something. Baseball was still sleeping, which was strange, since Baseball usually woke up first. And as he was doing so, he was sucking his foot. Nickel raised an eyebrow in wonder. 'I thought he didn't do that anymore?', he thought. He then shrugged it off and left the room to get breakfast. He wasn't a big jerk as he was before, and was starting to get better. Hell, he even was slowly making amends with Balloon! Though that was initially because some objects, like Salt, Pepper, Bomb, Pickle, and especially OJ had now gotten Balloon's back. As he ate his bacon, Nickel thought again, this time pretty hard, about what he saw that morning. He sympathetically wondered and worried about Baseball. He saw Baseball's behavior in previous episodes of the show after his elimination. Nickel admitted that was kind of his fault, and he did apologize. But now he wanted to make up for it more.

He decided to get some pancakes for his friend. Taking the plate up to their room, he knocked on the door. It took about 10 seconds for Baseball to open.

"Hey." Baseball smiled slightly.

Nickel decided not to point out the drool on Baseball's foot, fearing what would happen. He put the plate of pancakes down and started cutting them up. Baseball just looked on, his eyes widening when Nickel poked some pieces with the fork and held it to Baseball's face. Nervous, Baseball smiled.

"Uh.. you do realize... I can feed myself?"

"I know, I know... I just wanted to be nice..." He smiled, still holding the fork.

Baseball shrugged and decided to take a bite out of the pancakes anyway, smiling. They were really good! This continued until the plate was empty. Baseball's face was slightly covered in syrup, making Nickel smile at the sight. He then picked the plate and fork up to bring it back down to be washed. Meanwhile, Baseball sat and frowned. He liked that, yes, but was Nickel genuinely being nice? Or did he see him sucking his foot in his sleep and was making fun of him for it? The large object proceeded to walk toward a bag he had, getting out a plush polar bear. Baseball had the bear, or "Strike" as he called it, ever since he was born. He would often use the thing for comfort during his childhood and he found comfort in it to this day. Holding the toy close, he walked to his bed. He decided to forget about the thought that made him upset, turning the small tv on to his likes.

As Nickel was putting the fork and plate away, he wondered if he went too far with that. 'Baseball sucks his foot again, so what?' He thought to himself. He decided that once he saw Baseball again, he would apologize. Nickel got to their door again, he swore he heard "The Backyardigans" playing on the room's TV before he heard it shut off.

Once again, Baseball opened the door.

This time, however, he looked pretty miserable...

Nickel sighed, "Baseball, I just want to apologize if you thought I was making fun of you for... sucking your own foot, and I just wanted to... I thought it would make you happy and I wanted it as a way to make up for you-know-what again... and.. And-"

"Nickel... you don't need to apologize. I'm weird, I know..."

"What do you mean?"

"The thing is... I've just felt pretty down recently. Like, I know Suitcase had a perfectly good reason to vote you out, but I'm still shocked that she would.. Do that.. And... I kinda wish I could go back to days where I was happier... with little to no cares in the world... where things were much simpler... so I just rather behave... younger at times I can... I know... it's unsettling and pathetic... I think it's best you should just go..."

Tears were pouring out of Baseball's eyes, and he started sobbing. It was only a matter of seconds 'til Baseball fell to his rear and the sobs became full blown wailing. Nickel thought for a moment. Baseball was his best friend, he wouldn't leave him now! The coin knew all about what was going on with Baseball right now, and understood completely he was doing it due to bad events. He didn't find it unsettling and he definitely didn't find it pathetic. In fact, he wanted to stay with him much longer! He proceeded to walk to Baseball and hugged him as tight as he could.

"Wh... what are you.."

"There's no way I'm going just because of some coping mechanism. Everyone has their own ways of relaxing and relieving stress. Hell, I've heard there are more people who have similar ways like you! I'll repeat, everyone has their own ways of coping with stuff like anxiety, stress, and depression! And you are still the Baseball I know!"

Baseball looked at Nickel. He could feel his heart melting upon hearing those words, and it would become a complete puddle upon hearing the next words Nickel said.

"In fact... how would you feel if I said... I want to give you some care while you're..."

"Regressed?"

"Yeah... or would you think I'm making fun of-"

"I would actually love that."

The two exchanged smiles as they hugged each other once more.

Nickel awoke to sobs at around 5 in the morning. He turned to Baseball, who was, indeed, the source of the cries.

"Something wrong?" Nickel held onto Baseball, calming the larger object down a little.

"Nightmare..." Baseball said between sobs, not even bothering to make a full sentence.

"I see..." Nickel nodded his head, going into the drawer of the nightstand next to the bed and pulling out a red and white pacifier, placing it in Baseball's mouth.

Baseball suckled on the given soother, calming near completely as Nickel rubbed his back. The item was bought by Nickel along with many other childish supplies like dolls and children's books throughout the days ever since Baseball revealed his secret to Nickel. The coin also got out Strike from Baseball's side of the bed, giving it to his pal who accepted it completely. The larger of the two looked down at his roommate and asked,

"Can I watch Dinosaur Train?"

"If you promise to sleep again soon, then yes."

Nickel got out of the bed and got out a Dinosaur Train DVD, placing it in the DVD player connected to the small TV, playing episodes of the show. Nickel smiled and got back on the bed. Baseball held onto him, still sucking on the pacifier and cuddling the plush as he watched, falling asleep during the fourth episode that played. Smiling, the shorter object tucked him in the bed, softly petting his head.

"Sleep well, Little Slugger..."

The End


End file.
